Texas Basketball: 3 reasons Longhorns will upset Texas Tech

3. Backcourt defense

The play for the defense for Texas basketball since the start of Big 12 play dipped quite a bit. Texas’ defensive rating fell out of the top 100 Division 1 programs in the country, and they are close to dropping out of the top 50 in points allowed per game. Texas also is not forcing too many turnovers from their opponents (least amount of opponent turnovers in conference play).

While the defensive play is falling off across the board of late for the Longhorns. But their guards are still playing well of late. Junior guard Matt Coleman and sophomore Courtney Ramey are both posting defensive ratings below 100. They are one of the better defensive guard combinations in the Big 12.

It also does not help that the Longhorns ran into a buzzsaw of solid offenses of late. Kansas was able to shred the Texas defense in the second half in Monday’s showdown, as star point guard Devon Dotson used his quickness to get his way. Texas Tech won’t slow that trend down for Texas.

But Texas Tech does not bring the same level of guard play to the table as the Jayhawks do. Texas Tech is no slouch, though. Davide Moretti and Jahmi’us Ramsey are going to still be a load to deal with for Coleman and Ramey. Those two are some of the leading scorers for Texas Tech this season.

Nonetheless, Ramey and Coleman is one of the more difficult defensive matchups the Red Raiders will face all season long in Big 12 play.